Arts & Culture

Greasy pepperoni rolls, pungent ramps, sweet apple butter, shaggy Big Foot, scruffy Mothman – these are all symbols that represent West Virginia. Local treasures that began from traditions and legends from long ago that are getting a modern flare, thanks to a graphic design artist in Morgantown.

On Monday, Americans will celebrate Memorial Day. The holiday came to represent the unofficial start to summer. But for many, the day also reminds us to take a few moments to stop and remember a loved one who fought and died for our country on the battlefield. The holiday is steeped in rich history dating back to the American Civil War.

In this week’s episode of Inside Appalachia, we explore how our cultural traditions change over time and evolve as they get passed from person to person.

How does foklife fit into our already busy, and frankly, quite stressful lives?

“Henry Glassie, another folklorist, says that folklore is the creation of the future out of the past. So in order to know where we're headed, we have to know about these traditions in the past,” explained West Virginia state folklorist Emily Hilliard.

On this West Virginia Morning, Greensboro is a small town in southern Pennsylvania, just across the West Virginia border. It sits on the banks of the Monongahela river, surrounded by small hills and patches of trees.

Over the years the town has weathered boom and busts of a pottery industry, river trade, and coal. Lately, it’s been more bust than boom.

But now, some artists are trying to stimulate the local economy using what they know best: creativity. Our folklife reporter Caitlin Tan visited the Greensboro Art Cooperative to find out more.

Walking down the streets of Greensboro, Pennsylvania, it feels a bit like a ghost town. There are houses, business signs, a post office, but only two cars drive by in 10 minutes and no one is walking the streets.

The small town in southern Pennsylvania is just across the West Virginia border. It sits on the banks of the Monongahela River, surrounded by small hills and patches of trees. In years past, the town has weathered the boom and bust of a pottery industry, river trade and coal. Lately, it has been more bust than boom.

On this West Virginia Morning, There’s a strong historical connection between Appalachia and Wales.

Many of our ancestors migrated from Wales to Appalachia, both regions once heavily depended on the coal industry and both have a strong mountain culture -- a culture that includes music, art and storytelling.

This month at the Monongalia Arts Center in Morgantown, you can see an expansive art exhibit dedicated to the Welsh-Appalachian connection. Our folklife reporter, Caitlin Tan, has more.

Across the Atlantic Ocean -- 3,586 miles away from West Virginia -- you will find Wales, which is part of the United Kingdom. The western side of Wales is lined by two channels from the Celtic Sea. And inland is quite mountainous. Within those mountain towns, you will find similar folk culture to Appalachia.

“The nature of the people and the landscape is very similar. Plus, many people from West Wales came over here. So we’ve got those really strong connections,” said Peter Stevenson, a Welsh artist, writer and storyteller.

On this West Virginia Morning, lawmakers are scheduled to return to the Capitol in Charleston at 2 p.m. on Monday, May 20, to reconvene a special session on education betterment that was called months ago. But Republican leaders have yet to agree on exactly what kinds of reforms will be considered. So, as Dave Mistich reports, instead of focusing on education, the special session will likely address bills Governor Jim Justice vetoed on technical grounds.

On this West Virginia Morning, following an investigation started five years ago, the U.S. Department of Justice determined West Virginia is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. That’s because it has too many children with serious emotional or behavioral disorders in out-of-state residential facilities. As Kara Lofton reports, the Justice Department and the state have agreed to a plan to bring West Virginia into compliance with that law within five years.

On this West Virginia Morning, the department of education released a 33-page report titled West Virginia’s Voice last week. It presents education reform ideas collected from a series of forums held around the state.

The department concludes that “West Virginia’s education system is not broken,” but identifies four priorities for improving public education: increasing pay for all school employees, increasing funding for mental health professionals, incentivizing high-performing schools by providing local flexibility to explore educational innovations, and funding supplemental pay for shortage areas, especially math instruction.

Doris Day, the honey-voiced singer and actress whose film dramas, musicals and innocent sex comedies made her a top star in the 1950s and ‘60s and among the most popular screen actresses in history, has died. She was 97.

Kids, parents, grandparents, and educators are getting together around West Virginia this week to celebrate non-traditional learning. It’s part of a growing initiative to demonstrate and practice innovative education models.

Coal was king in McDowell County in the 1960s and 70s. At one point, it was one of the richest counties in the country due to coal production. There were more than 53 communities that either had their own mines or housed miners who worked in the area. Because the coal mines attracted workers from all over the country, even the world, there was a pretty diverse group of people in McDowell.

On this West Virginia Morning, science can be a hard subject to understand, especially upper-level higher-ed science courses. A professor in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle is creatively cracking the code to help his students understand tricky topics. Corey Knollinger has more.

Thinking back on a tradition that’s been carried on in your family probably isn’t too hard. The Thanksgiving Turkey, or celebrating Christmas morning, or even just watching cartoons with your siblings on Saturday morning.

For one family in Lincoln County, West Virginia, the tradition is building furniture. Inside Appalachia folklife reporter, Caitlin Tan, visited the shop and brings us their story.

On this West Virginia Morning, in June, 2017, West Virginia University Medicine was studying a little-known approach to cancer treatment called narrative medicine. The aim was to improve the treatment experience for doctors and patients alike.

The idea with narrative medicine is that if doctors get to know patients through their life stories, the physicians will be able to improve their ability to care for their patients, beyond simply managing symptoms. It takes time to sit down and record stories with cancer patients like Lacie Wallace, but the art of storytelling had lasting effects, especially for a patient’s family. Kara Lofton reports.

On this West Virginia Morning, reporters with Marketplace spent more than a year in central Appalachia. They were investigating how the opioid epidemic has changed as law enforcement began cracking down on prescription drugs. The series is part of a podcast called “The Uncertain Hour”. West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Trey Kay, host of Us and Them, recently spoke with producer Caitlin Esch. They talked about how it’s difficult to fight a drug epidemic through law enforcement alone.

The downtown of this town of 600 sat nearly vacant until a music venue and artists began to create a new economic future for the former coal town. A new guide from the National Association of Governors says arts and culture can be part of rebuilding economies in rural communities.

The city of Thomas, West Virginia, like a lot of municipalities in the Mountain State, owes its initial development to coal.

Today, however, the downtown of the small town in eastern West Virginia has redeveloped in response to another economic sector – arts and culture.

Winston Shelton passed away last week. Born in Nicholas County, he grew up in Clay and Greenbrier counties, and became an electrical engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur who was awarded 76 U.S. patents.

On this West Virginia Morning, this week’s episode of Inside Appalachia looks at a disease that at least 2,000 former miners struggle with -- black lung. An NPR investigation found that miners are finding it tough to get help from doctors, lawyers, coal companies, and many lawmakers.

On this West Virginia Morning, West Virginians will soon be allowed to give more money to political groups in the state. Political donors will be allowed to give $2,800 to candidate committees, $5,000 to political action committees and $10,000 to state party executive committees.

Spring is here and that means baseball season. This week on Inside Appalachia we’re taking another look at baseball throughout the region. We’ll learn about the history of early baseball in the coal camp towns of southern West Virginia and go inside the legendary baseball bat factory — the Louisville Sluggers. And we’ll meet a man who went from living in an isolated timber town in Pocahontas County, West Virginia to being a professional umpire for the Cincinnati Reds.

On this West Virginia Morning, a fire at a US Steel plant crippled its ability to control its air pollution in December. For three months, the Pittsburgh area was blanketed with releases of sulfur dioxide much higher than usual, and thousands reported suffering from poor air quality. Last week, the steelmaker finished repairing its pollution control equipment. For State Impact Pennsylvania, the Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier reports that the worries about air pollution and its health impacts, remain.

This West Virginia Morning, Ken Burns joins us to talk about making the film, “Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns,” the impact it had on him, and what he has come to understand about the power of country music.

Ken Burns spoke to West Virginia Public Broadcasting about making the film, “Country Music: A Film by Ken Burns,” the impact it had on him, and what he has come to understand about the power of country music.

“Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis”, a personal memoir by JD Vance, was on the New York Times Bestseller list for 24 weeks. After the 2016 presidential election, some people read the book, hoping to gain insights into the region. The book sold more than a million copies, and a Ron Howard film is now in the works.